Roll 'Bama Roll

Random Thought: SEC Teams That Aren't Yet Bowl Eligible (and Random Teams that Are)

2009-11-09T02:39:31Z

While I was putting my blogpoll ballot together I was looking at the conference standings page over at Yahoo! Sports to get a look at the records of various mid-majors, and something jumped out at me about the SEC; half the conference is still looking to reach .500 with only three games left in the season:

Raise your hand if you thought before the season started that at this point Auburn would be bowl eligible while Georgia, with Auburn, Kentucky, and Georgia Tech left on the schedule, isn't necessarily a lock for the post season. If there's anyone out there with their hand raised, you are either an Auburn homer or your pants are exceptionally hot right now, liar. Anyway, Vandy is the only team that is mathematically elminated from a bowl game, but there are a few teams on the outside looking in that are unfortunately going to stay that way. Mississippi State is probably out (needing two wins out of Alabama, Arkansas, and Ole Miss), while poor Vandy is likely the whipping boy that can catapult both Kentucky and Tennessee into bowl eligibility. Meanwhile in the West, poor State will likely be the team that gets both Arkansas and Ole Miss (who, despite being 6-3, still needs another win since they played two 1AA teams this season and only one of those wins can count towards bowl eligibility) into the postseason. None of this is a given, though. State is no pushover and I wouldn't be at all shocked if they upset Ole Miss. Should the Rebels end the season on a three game skid (which is possible with Tennessee, who is starting to really click right now, and LSU still on the schedule), Ole Miss will be sitting home for the holidays. Meanwhile in the East, Georgia better bring everything they have the rest of the way since even Kentucky is a threat to take them down. Just goes to show that the SEC is quickly becoming a conference with a two to three team "elite" level (this year, Alabama, Florida, and LSU) and a seriously logjammed middle. We're possibly looking at sending two teams to the BCS, one double digit win team to the Outback, and a whole bunch of 6 and 7 win teams everywhere else.

Looking elsewhere, though, it's amusing to note some of the teams that have quietly gone about reaching .500:

Northwestern, Rutgers, Kansas State, Boston College, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Temple, Ohio, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Air Force, BYU, Arizona, Stanford, Navy, Fresno State, Idaho, Troy, and Middle Tennessee State are all bowl eligible despite either completely flying under the radar or, in the case of BYU, having fallen completely off the map after early season hype. Just a thought.

This is the preliminary sketch of Daniel Moore's "Maximum Block" from the good folks at New Life...

2009-11-09T02:28:17Z

This is the preliminary sketch of Daniel Moore's "Maximum Block" from the good folks at New Life Art. Click this link to get your fix at their website (warning: PDF file).

Admittedly, I haven't been a big fan of much of Moore's recent works. I didn't particularly like either The Blackout or The Blowout, but the early sketch of this one looks dang good. This one would look damn nice right alongside my Rocky Stop print.

But much like the crowd, which barely filled Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to half of its capacity with...

2009-11-09T01:29:27Z

But much like the crowd, which barely filled Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to half of its capacity with an announced 38,184 in attendance, the glass was half-full for Ole Miss (6-3) as it prepares for a crucial three-game Southeastern Conference stretch to end the regular season.

Dave Brandt: Good to win

For their game last night against vaunted Northern Arizona, Ole Miss had an announced capacity of barely 38,000, which brings me to raise the following point. For teams like this that don't have big athletic budgets anyway, at what point is it plain stupid to schedule teams this bad late in the season, if but for nothing more than you lose a ton of money with a half-empty stadium?

Doing that is fine if you're a program like Alabama that will pack the house regardless of who you schedule, but it seems to me for a program like Ole Miss you are simply costing yourself a ton of money. Just think, if the face value of the ticket is about $45, you can basically make another million dollars just by selling 20,000 more tickets for one single game.

1) Florida (.9842) 2) Alabama (.9516) 3) Texas (.9234) 4) TCU (.8620) 5) Cincinnati (.8580) 6)...

2009-11-09T00:18:20Z

1) Florida (.9842)
2) Alabama (.9516)
3) Texas (.9234)
4) TCU (.8620)
5) Cincinnati (.8580)
6) Boise State (.8126)
7) Georgia Tech (.7552)
8) LSU (.6138)
9) USC (.5922)
10) Iowa (.5745)

Alabama regains No. 2 spot in BCS standings | The Bama Beat

Initial Impressions from the LSU Game

2009-11-08T21:03:58Z

Almost 24 hours removed, a few initial impressions from the LSU game:

First and foremost, it was obviously a huge win for the Tide yesterday. We came in absolutely needing to get the job done, and with LSU giving us their best shot we answered the bell. We played the best we've played since late September, and truth be told there was absolutely what was required. Credit goes to LSU for playing well in their own right, and they made us take our game to the next level to get the win.
Mark Ingram logged another unreal performance yesterday. LSU was highly physical on the defensive side of the ball, and Ingram racked up 177 total yards. He averaged 6.5 yards per run and the way he powered the opening drive of the second half really changed the game. As I mentioned in a fanshot earlier, the Heisman is an "award" for tools... it's based more on glamor than anything else, and it's given by a collection of idiots. Ingram will probably never win it, but I wouldn't trade him for any other player in the country, and we just need to enjoy him while we have him. He's a three-year player, and someone will be paying him big bucks to do this come 2011.
Julio Jones had his best performance of the year, and it was very interesting how things were discussed in the post-game. Based on what everyone is saying, it's clear that only in the past week or so has Julio gotten back to near 100%, and he looked very different yesterday than he had the rest of the year. His explosiveness was back, and he was a difference-maker in this game. Even aside from the long touchdown run off the screen, he had a huge first down on the final drive, had a couple of other nice grabs, and the pass interference on Peterson was yet another big play. And, of course, that's not counting the throw in the first half that should have been a touchdown. Nice to have you back, Julio.
Greg McElroy played the best game in at least a month, and was clearly improved over the course of the past few weeks. We needed every bit of what he did, and we could not have won had he played anything like he had the past three weeks. Unfortunately, McElroy still has a long ways to go, and he left a lot of points on the board today. He did some good things, but he did a lot of bad things too. He missed Julio on an easy touchdown throw, costing us four points, and the dumb interception before halftime cost us at least a field goal. He held onto the football too long on the safety, and he missed an open Smelley on the trick pass out of the Wildcat that could have been a touchdown, and of course that is to say nothing of the terrible decision to try to force the ball to Julio late on the controversial incompletion. Bottom line, McElroy played pretty well and he clearly showed some progress, but he still did some things to cost us a lot of points and he clearly still needs to play better.
Speaking of passes out of the Wildcat, remember the first Wildcat snap we had that resulted in a fumble? Did you happen to notice who was coming in motion at the time of the snap? It was none other than Earl Alexander, and that was one of the few snaps he saw in the game. And if you will recall correctly, Alexander was a quarterback in high school, and Ingram was very upset after the fumble. I'd about bet the farm that we had a trick play called in that situation with Alexander getting the ball looking to throw a pass.
The offensive line played an incredible game today. Both James Carpenter and Drew Davis were nothing short of outstanding protecting the edge in pass protection, and we beat up LSU in the trenches in the running game. It was a complete effort by the big uglies, and I don't have any doubt that we played better along the offensive line yesterday than we have at any point in the year. Joe Pendry deserves a lot of credit for what he has done with this group. We don't have any real dominant players out there, but we consistently play good, solid technique and just get the job done.

Bamagrad had it right in the fanpost... we're throwing the football to set up the run. That was clearly the plan offensively, and it worked very well.

All in all, it was certainly nice to see us moving the football again. McElroy's mistakes and the illegal substitution penalty kept some points off the board, so it wasn't exactly a perfect day, but again it was clearly an improvement over the past month. LSU has a good defense, and any time you average almost 6.5 yards per play against a defense of that caliber, you're certainly doing something right. Hopefully we can just continue to build off of this effort.

Marcel Dareus, for all intents and purposes, is unstoppable when we move him inside in pass rushing situations. He consistently takes the manhood of every guard they line up over him, and he did the same thing on Saturday with senior right guard Lyle Hitt. I can guarantee you this much... come April of 2011, that young man will be getting a lot of money from an NFL team. Enjoy him while we have him.

Defensively, we really had some struggles at time stopping the option. We had things set up defensively pretty well most of the time, but the execution looked ugly a good bit of the time. In particular, Jefferson made Justin Woodall look pretty bad on one option play. That's something we're going to have to fix before we leave for Atlanta.

Jordan Jefferson played a fine game yesterday, and that young man has a great upside. He has all the physical tools you would ever want, and he is a legitimate dual threat to boot. He clearly still needs to progress, but if he ever puts it all together then he is going to be a legitimate superstar.

And speaking of Jefferson, what in the world was the deal with him not going back in the game? The CBS broadcast reported that word had came from the LSU sideline that he could have gone back in, and he looked okay on the sideline. I have no clue what the deal was there, but Lee was clearly a drop-off. And here's the thing on Lee... he has great physical tools, and he can throw the football down the field with the best of them. But in terms of having to hit receivers over the middle on crossing routes, he cannot hit the broad side of a barn. If he could ever gain some accuracy on crossing patterns, he'd be one hell of a quarterback.

LSU really does have some unreal talent at the skill positions. For whatever criticism you can make of Miles, this is certainly not one of them. Even with Florida, there is probably not another team in the country that has the kind of athleticism at the skill positions like LSU does.

Colin Peek misses the game for 'Bama, and Richard Dickson didn't play either. Pretty much a balancing effect, really.

The more I watch of the LSU offense, the more I think that it is really just too complicated for its own good. It can certainly create some issues for defenses, mind you, but it certainly does create a lot issues for the offense, too, and that was the big catalyst behind all of the false starts, the illegal formations, and the wasted timeouts. With all of the talent that those guys have, I really just cannot help but think that they would be better served just by simplifying the offense and letting all of the raw talent just go to work for them.

Chad Jones didn't have much of an impact yesterday, and his mobility wasn't particularly impressive. On both the long pass to Maze out of the end zone, and the drop by Julio out of the end zone in the third quarter, Jones was tracking the ball the entire way and at first sight I was almost convinced that he was going to snag an easy pick. In both cases, though, he never really got close enough to make the play. I don't know if he was hurt or perhaps just a tad bit overrated, but either way he didn't exactly blow me away yesterday.

The LSU linebacker corps is a very underrated group. Those guys played a fine game, and Kelvin Sheppard in particular really looked good. I tell you, he's probably not quite in the same league yet as Rolando McClain and Brandon Spikes, but he's not far behind. Outside of those two and Hightower, he might be the best linebacker I've seen in the SEC this year.

Patrick Peterson is an incredible player, and he played a great game yesterday. Unfortunately, he really shot himself in the foot by never being properly hydrated in the first place, always a tell-tale sign when you're cramping up by halftime in a game where the temperature never rises above 70 degrees. I know he had some flu-like symptoms earlier in the week, but that had cleared up by mid-week and at that point you just have to make sure you get plenty of fluids. Once the game started, of course, it was entirely too late and you simply lose entirely too much fluids to get them back to where they need to be. Peterson played great when he was in the game, but really he was his own worst enemy.

Charles Scott deserves a lot of credit for playing a fine game. His drop on the busted pass play was a big one, but he ran the ball really well and played a physical game. It was a shame to see his collegiate career likely ended on such a fine run, but such is life sometimes. Best wishes on the recovery, Mr. Scott, and we'll see you on Sunday next year.

DeAngelo Peterson was huge on LSU's first touchdown drive, and their coaching staff really got us there defensively. He's a wide receiver, regardless of what you call him, but when they lined him up at tight end we covered him with a safety (Barron) and then a linebacker (Reamer), and he ate our lunch both times.

Are any of you guys familar with ROBO-PUNTER, the theoretical punter whose punts are downed at the opposing team's one-yard line every time? Well, that was pretty much LSU yesterday. I swear, those guys did an unbelievable job punting the football. If they weren't pinning it against our goal line, they were kicking it a mile and eliminating any chance of return for Arenas. Ill be perfectly honest, it was the most impressive display of punting that I've seen in many years.

Look at it this way... LSU punted the football eight times yesterday, and Javier Arenas ended up with 11 return yards. And that is not counting the penalty on Smelley, and when you take that into consideration we ended up getting a grand total of one return yard on eight punts. And if that's not getting the job done, I don't know what is.

And speaking of punt returns, why in the hell is Brad Smelley in the game? He has to lead the conference in penalties committed in the return game, and his penalty yesterday was one of the dumbest I've seen in a while.

The punt that LSU rolled inside the one-yard line was touched at around the four. Refs missed that one, I believe. And it had a big impact on playcalling, too, no doubt about that.

All of this hoopla over the interception is ridiculous, and it's mainly just a bunch of homer fans looking for an excuse for a guy that they otherwise got their asses beat. It was a close play that could have legitimately gone either way, to be sure, but the ruling on the field was an incomplete pass and there was no indisputable evidence on the replay that would command the play be overturned. And I'll be frank, even if you give him the interception, it doesn't matter. LSU would have been 61 yards away from the end zone, and those guys ended up with 17 total yards on three possessions in the fourth quarter. The end result would have been the same regardless. The only difference would have been that 'Bama might not have covered the spread had it been called an interception.

Two huge plays in the fourth quarter have been overlooked in the wake of all of the talk of the incomplete pass, and they were the stop by our defense on 3rd and short early in the fourth quarter, and the running into the punter penalty. We scored on the screen to Julio immediately after the defensive stop, and the running into the penalty not only gave us three points but also took another three minutes or so off the clock. The incompletion is getting all of the attention, but those two plays are really the ones that broke LSU's back.

And speaking of the running into the punter penalty, that was one gutsy call on the fourth down after that. We're literally three inches from a first down and we decide to motion McElroy out wide and snap it five yards behind the line of scrimmage to Ingram in the shotgun, when we fumbled a snap in the Wildcat earlier in the game? Hell, that might be more than gutsy, it might even be stupid, but fortunately it worked out for us in the end.

Leigh Tiffin is a fine young man, a wonderful kicker, and we should all feel fortunate to have such a valuable asset on our team. And, again, I'm just going to shut up about him.

The way we dominated this game physically was nothing short of amazing. We were much more physical than LSU, and their players were dropping like flies. Moreover, we absolutely dominated this game in the fourth quarter, and that was ultimately the difference. In many ways, we didn't so much win this game yesterday afternoon as much as we won it last summer in the S&C program. We were clearly the more physical team and better conditioned to boot. If there is an unsung hero of this team, it's strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran. That man clearly deserves a raise.

But when you just watch the fourth quarter, it's impossible to blame this on one call. LSU went...

2009-11-08T17:57:28Z

But when you just watch the fourth quarter, it's impossible to blame this on one call. LSU went into the tank when the game mattered most. No first downs in the fourth quarter. The officials didn't do that, LSU's offense did. Julio Jones getting a long TD catch off a screen pass untouched, that wasn't the officials doing, that was the LSU defense.

Patrick Peterson's non-interception was a key play, but not nearly as big as LSU's failure to get two yards on 3rd and 2 up 15-13. If LSU converts there, maybe they can put together a drive, or at least give the defense a much needed breather. Instead, LSU punted and then Julio Jones made his big catch. With Peterson sitting on the bench, still trying to recover from injury.

And The Valley Shook - Well, That Sucked

ATVS with the most sensible thing you'll read about "The Call" this week.

Week 10 BlogPoll Ballot Submitted

2009-11-08T17:23:46Z

DRAFT

SUBMITTED

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama	2
2	Texas	1
3	Florida	1
4	TCU
5	Boise State
6	Cincinnati	1
7	Pittsburgh	5
8	Georgia Tech	2
9	Utah	6
10	Iowa	4
11	Arizona	5
12	Oregon	4
13	Southern Cal
14	Houston
15	LSU	6
16	Miami (Florida)	1
17	Ohio State	2
18	Penn State	7
19	Wisconsin	1
20	Rutgers	1
21	Oklahoma State	3
22	Virginia Tech	3
23	Troy
24	Temple
25	Navy
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: California (#18), Notre Dame (#22).

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama	2
2	Texas	1
3	Florida	1
4	TCU
5	Boise State
6	Cincinnati	1
7	Pittsburgh	5
8	Georgia Tech	2
9	Utah	6
10	Iowa	4
11	Arizona	5
12	LSU	3
13	Houston	1
14	Oregon	6
15	Southern Cal	2
16	Miami (Florida)	1
17	Ohio State	2
18	Penn State	7
19	Wisconsin	1
20	Rutgers	1
21	Oklahoma State	3
22	Virginia Tech	3
23	Troy
24	Stanford
25	Navy
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: California (#18), Notre Dame (#22).

As always, let me know where I am wrong and/or stupid in the comments section.

Rammer Jammer Yellowhammer - Alabama LSU 2009

2009-11-08T17:03:33Z

Rammer Jammer Yellowhammer - Alabama LSU 2009

20/20 Hindsight: Alabama vs LSU

2009-11-08T16:49:14Z

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

1 day ago: LSU's Brandon LaFell (1) is consoled by teammate Morris Claiborne (17) late in the fourth quarter of a 24-15 loss to Alabama in an NCAA college football game at Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Browse more photos »

Here it is, your weekly roundup of links and quotes concerning the previous night's game. As always, leave anything worth reading (or, considering the "controversial" review and subsequent caterwauling, worth ridiculing) that we've missed in the comments below.

Slow-starting Tide still a hit when push comes to fourth quarter heroics | Dr. Saturday

But no part of the Tide's win was more impressive than that killer instinct on both sides of the ball -- or, maybe more accurately, the survival instinct. 'Bama never trailed in the fourth quarter during last year's 12-0 regular season, and in fact blew a late lead to Florida in the SEC Championship. This year, it's rallied to come from behind to put away Virginia Tech in the opener and now the top challenger in the West Division; in their toughest games of the season, facing their toughest spots of the season, the Tide outscored the Hokies and Tigers by a combined 32-7 in the final frame to win both games comfortably, by two scores. They blocked Tennessee's kick to prevent a burgeoning giveaway. Whatever other problems this team has, responding in the clutch obviously hasn't been one of them.

The West Is Won, and That's All That Matters | Team Speed Kills

If anyone wants to point to the fact that Alabama got off to a slow start against LSU and won after a dubious decision on what should have been an LSU interception along the sideline, there's an easy response available to the Tide: Iowa and Oregon. That won't and shouldn't protect Alabama from any poll fallout in relation to Texas and Florida, but it shows why there's no killing the cliche that it's better to win ugly than to lose pretty.

Alabama rallies to defeat ninth-ranked LSU, 24-15, to clinch the SEC West division | NYDailyNews.com

This was only Jones' second touchdown of the season but the explosive nature of it reminded everyone just how fast he is and just how dangerous he can be when healthy. "I expect to make those plays," Jones said. "We knew they would load up the box and there would be plenty of opportunities to throw the ball.

"We practiced that play all week. A play like that I just feel like I should just step up and make the play. I did what I had to do."

Alabama victory has redeeming value for McElroy, Jones | Tony Barnhart

There are many lessons that football teaches, but the greatest of these is the possibility for redemption.

You may have been the goat last week. You may have been the goat earlier in the day. You may have had coaches and fans screaming at you in anger. But if you keep playing, if you persevere, the game will eventually give you a chance to be a hero.

Such was the case for Greg McElroy and Julio Jones, who each wore the hero's crown with pride Saturday night after No. 3 Alabama came from behind not once but twice to knock off No. 9 LSU 24-15 and clinch a spot against No. 1 Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 5 in Atlanta.

Alabama Needs Diverse Offense to Stay On Track | Fox Sports

After two weeks in hibernation, the Alabama offense finally gave the vaunted Crimson Tide D some air cover, and the Tide took its final step toward the SEC title game. Now, 'Bama wants more than just a spot in the game. It wants an undefeated showdown with Florida, but in order to get there, it needed to stop LSU, and while the Crimson Tide defense wasn't totally stifling, as it had been several times this year, it looked great in a step up in competition.

College Football Diary | The Daily Fix

You always hate to see a loss blamed on injuries, but I think we are going to hear a lot of that around Baton Rouge for many weeks to come. This time, the excuse may be valid. Jefferson was playing great before he got hurt, and in the second half, Lee showed way he lost the starting job. Charles Scott went down right after breaking a couple huge runs, and then we saw the backup Bradley fail to convert a key third and short. Cornerback Patrick Peterson was cramping up (hydrate!!), and then Julio Jones blows past the backup defender for a 73-yard touchdown reception that won the game.

Still, credit has to go to the Tide. McElroy was far from perfect but he set up the biggest play of the game in that pass to Jones. Mark Ingram, with 144 total rushing yards, woke up in the second half and was nearly unstoppable. And the defense got it done, which wasn't surprising.

Dear Mr. Slive: I should be a replay ref | Clay Travis

That's why I'm making you an offer, I will work as instant replay reviewer for any televised SEC game.

For free.

Do you understand what a deal you're getting here, Commissioner Slive? I will work for the SEC for absolutely free. And I won't miss any calls.

Zero.

You know why? Two reasons, first, I don't care who wins the games...

ed. - Emphasis mine, and I'm including this one so you can all get a good laugh at the notion Clay Travis wouldn't blow every single call he possibly could to guarantee an Alabama loss. I hate Clay Travis.

Resilient Alabama gets it done...again | Chris Low

This is Alabama’s last shot.

That is, the Crimson Tide’s last shot to do something that nobody else in the SEC has done -- win at least one SEC championship in every decade since the league was formed in 1933.

Tide's Attitude Reason for Turnaround | Randy Kennedy

"We're proud of it, but it's not enough," said senior All-American Javier Arenas. "It didn't hit us until after the game that we had won the West. I wouldn't say that we expected it, but we knew how to work for it."

That attitude is a testament to just how far Alabama has come in such a short period of time under Saban.

And finally, Saban's post game comments from al.com (where you can find the player comments as well):

Animated Drive Chart: Alabama 24 - LSU 15

2009-11-08T16:14:24Z

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Not only did LSU lose out on its chance at a national title, but the team may have lost its star...

2009-11-08T15:29:21Z

Not only did LSU lose out on its chance at a national title, but the team may have lost its star running back, at least for a little while.

A source close to the team told WDSU sports anchor Keli Fulton that starting running back Charles Scott has a broken collarbone.

WDSU NBC (New Orleans): LSU Back Has Broken Collarbone

No real shock here given the way that it looked on the field, but nevertheless you hate to hear this one for Scott. He's had a rough year due to little fault of his own, but he played a fine game yesterday and gave us a lot of problems. You hate to say it, but given the nature of his injury his collegiate career is probably over. At least with his talent he'll play at the next level and get paid lots of money to do so, so best wishes to him.

Coach Nick Saban said the Crimson Tide didn't suffer serious injuries during a physical game that...

2009-11-08T14:33:48Z

Coach Nick Saban said the Crimson Tide didn't suffer serious injuries during a physical game that took a steady toll on LSU.

Receiver Marquis Maze appeared to tweak his ankle early in the second half but returned to the game. Cornerback Javier Arenas, who has been playing with the rib injury, said he got the wind knocked out of him on a return.

"We didn't have anybody that left the game and stayed out of the game," Saban said. "We had a couple of guys get nicked up and leave the game, but they all went back."

Gentry Estes: Alabama Notebook

I'm sure we're beat up and will be sore as can be this morning, but thankfully we avoided any major injuries.

Notes From Around the College Football World

2009-11-08T06:55:22Z

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

Ken Niumatalolo led Navy to their second win over the Irish in three years.

Browse more photos »

Assorted ramblings after week 10 of the season. Alabama analysis will be coming soon...

We hope that Jahvid Best's injury is "only" a concussion and not spinal. That was a seriously nasty spill he took and it was quite scary to watch. You never want to see someone injured and we wish him a speedy recovery.
With Iowa's loss, six undefeateds remain: Alabama, Boise State, Cincinnati, Florida, TCU, Texas
With Iowa's loss, it puts Ohio State back in control of their own destiny to win the Big 10. The Buckeyes and Hawkeyes meet next weekend and the winner still controls their own destiny in the race for the conference title.
Looks like Temple is going bowling for the first time in 30 years.
I don't care if it was against Tulsa, Case Keenum put up some sick numbers against them. 40 of 60 for over 500 yards and he led them to a late comeback.
It was upset city this Saturday for ranked teams: Iowa, Penn State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon and Cal all lost to teams that were unranked or ranked lower than them. Several others including USC, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and Wisconsin survived scares. Boise State got a bit of scare too on Thursday, but not like the others.
Michigan lost to Purdue to slide to 5-5 for the season. With their remaining two games being at Wisconsin and hosting Ohio State, they Wolverines are likely looking at a 5-7 season and a second season in a row of no bowl game. We really do need to send Rita a gift basket.
You've gotta think Charlie Weiss' days at Notre Dame are numbered. 1-2 against Navy over the last three years (0-2 in South Bend.) I imagine they'll get at least one win out of their remaining three games, but if they lost all three to Pitt, UCONN and Stanford, I wouldn't be terribly surprised either. That would leave them at 6-6.
They must really want USC to win at least a share of the conference championship out in Pac-10 country. The race continues to be tight after Oregon lost to Stanford tonight. Maybe it's just been so long since anyone else has won it that nobody remembers what it's like to play with weekly pressure.
The SEC has five teams that are already bowl eligible (Alabama, Florida, LSU, South Carolina, Auburn.) Though Ole Miss has six wins, two of them are against FBS teams, so only one of them counts towards bowl eligibility. Ole Miss, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky are all one game away and Mississippi State needs to pick up two more wins to go bowling. Vandy, at 2-7 is done on November 28th.
UAB hammered Florida Atlantic to pull to 4-5. With three games left against Memphis, East Carolina and UCF, UAB could get bowl eligible. Even if they didn't get an invite, making it to 6-6 would be huge for them. They probably aren't going to win at East Carolina, so they'll need wins at Memphis and at Legion Field against UCF.
Duke needs one more win to get bowl eligible. It'll be no easy task though, their remaining games are against Georgia Tech, Miami and Wake Forest. It would be their first bowl appearance since 1995. Regardless of whether the Blue Devils go bowling or not, Cutcliffe clearly has them headed in the right direction. In less than two seasons, he's eclipsed Duke's win total over the five previous seasons.
Troy looks on pace to at least share a part of the Sun Belt title for the fourth year in a row.
Don't forget there's more football on TV on Sunday. Nevada at San Jose State on ESPN at 7:30 p.m.

This is exactly what Coach Saban means by, "Make his ass quit!"

2009-11-08T04:56:48Z

This is exactly what Coach Saban means by, "Make his ass quit!"

Absolute gamechanger. This was the single most important play of the year to date.

2009-11-08T04:56:00Z

Absolute gamechanger. This was the single most important play of the year to date.

LSU was unbelievably talent at the skill positions, and naturally they made their fair share of...

2009-11-08T04:54:56Z

LSU was unbelievably talent at the skill positions, and naturally they made their fair share of plays, but in the end our defense dominated like always.

Greg McElroy certainly wasn't flawless today, but he played pretty well and he played a big role in...

2009-11-08T04:53:48Z

Greg McElroy certainly wasn't flawless today, but he played pretty well and he played a big role in the win. It was his best game since Arkansas.

Marcel Dareus is a beast. Barring injury, there is no way he is in Tuscaloosa come 2011.

2009-11-08T04:52:31Z

Marcel Dareus is a beast. Barring injury, there is no way he is in Tuscaloosa come 2011.

The Heisman is for tools... Mark Ingram is the best back in the country, and it's not...

2009-11-08T04:51:09Z

The Heisman is for tools... Mark Ingram is the best back in the country, and it's not even close.

Michael Williams played a fantastic game today in Colin Peek's absence. He'll be an impact player...

2009-11-08T04:49:21Z

Michael Williams played a fantastic game today in Colin Peek's absence. He'll be an impact player before he leaves.